La politique de l’autruche : Manipulations successorales chez les Sassanides, d’après un plat de Shāpūr II Samra Azarnouche 2023, Res Orientales XXX

https://www.academia.edu/102883650/La_politique_de_l_autruche_Manipulations_successorales_chez_les_Sassanides_d_apr%C3%A8s_un_plat_de_Sh%C4%81p%C5%ABr_II A silver plate from the Wyvern Collection depicting a Sasanian king hunting ostriches has posed identification problems. It has so far been dated to the 5th-6th centuries. On the basis of stylistic arguments, this paper suggests that it should be attributed to the 4th century and that the king should be identified with Shāpūr II (309-379), depicted in his minority and wearing the crown of his father Hormizd II (302-309). This would be the earliest Sasanian royal plate depicting a reigning ruler. The image was intended to overshadow the intrigues and machinations of the nobility for the succession of Hormizd II, and perhaps to symbolically represent the first military operations of the young Shāpūr II against the Arabs.